Western Blog

Slow Down and Take the Time

December 18, 2015

The term complacency has several definitions; perhaps the one most suitable (in the context of safety) is as follows, “a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect or the like”. Ironically, this feeling can develop from a perception that you live and work in a safe environment. An environment of few, if any, workplace incidents and when an incident does occur, it is often of a minor nature.

The message here is, never let your guard down. We maintain our safety by doing just that, maintaining it. Complacency occurs when we perceive our work environments and procedures to be ‘safe’.

The ways we maintain our safety:

We maintain a safe workplace by following established protocols and procedures.

We have daily safety meetings to discuss changes and potential hazards that develop from day to day on our worksite.

We wear the appropriate PPE for the task at hand.

We review the appropriate SOP before starting a task and complete a FLRA

We take a “Four Second Reset” to stop and think about the safety side of the task we’re about to start.

We manage our “Zone of Control” on the worksite. Hazards identified, eliminated or controlled. Housekeeping and organization maintained. Awareness of other workers and/or mobile equipment coming into our work area.

We report any and all perceived or potential hazards on the worksite.

We report all near misses. When reported, we are able to collect information, identify trends, correct current problems, and prevent future incidents and injuries from happening.